We Won't Be Lonely Anymore
by ozxiii
Summary: "'If only Yoh would remember the reason why, maybe he could understand.' - After a thousand years, Hao was finally able to feel happiness, but all for the cost of his brother's existence." Oneshot. Hao and Yoh, no romance. Brotherly love. Review please!


**A/N: Yay for another oneshot?  
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**This takes place inside the Great Spirit in the manga… Basically, I'm starting off near the end of the manga, and I'm writing my own ending! (If you notice, the first part is taken straight out of the manga! (The dialogue anyway).**

**This is NOT romance at all. This is something of an angsty family thing… brotherly love at the most. I find it touching.**

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We Won't Be Lonely Anymore.

Upon becoming the Shaman King, Hao finally obtained the power to achieve his dream. He was now all-powerful; he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. Because he was a _God_. When he "awoke" from the eight-hour coma, he was no longer on Earth, but in the Great Spirit. He was in the Society of the Shaman King. He knew that no one would be able to intrude on this paradise -this world of his- unless he allowed them too. So he killed all those who were around his -now - corpse, because, in truth, Hao was a little lonely.

After all, he hadn't (really) done this for his Mother, or Ohachiyo, or even his followers. He had done this… because of…

It didn't matter what it was all for. It would only really matter to Hao. And yet someone still stood between him and his dream.

"… This place… oh I see… Hao killed me, too… I must be in one of the societies inside the great spirit. But then…"

"Then you're inside me," Hao stated bluntly. Yoh spun around, surprised to see his brother in this empty space. This place that contained nothing, except the twins.

"Finally. The two of us have become one, Yoh…" Hao trailed off. He looked at his brother, happy to be with him at last, and yet, saddened, because he had to endure so much to come to this point.

"HAO!" Yoh was shocked, but quickly regained his composure. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the ihai, ready to defend himself if he needed to.

"Hey, what are you doing with Amidamaru's ihai? There's nobody else here."

Yoh dropped his hands, a little surprised. He gave his brother a disbelieving look.

"Don't you get it? This is the highest part of the Great Spirit, my very own world. In other words, the Shaman King's society," Hao explained. Yoh still gave his twin a skeptic look.

"Nobody comes here unless I specifically summon them. Outsiders cannot enter."

"Don't worry, no one is watching us here." Hao further assured his brother. The look on Yoh's face changed as he seemed to believe his brother. After all, when he glanced around him, he saw that there really was no one around except them.

"No one… watching… I see…" Yoh smiled to himself as he believed in his brother's words. '_Good, no one's around._'

"Then I don't need to pretend. But geez… I can't believe that you have really become the Shaman King," Yoh said. He smiled at his brother, congratulating him. Hao smiled back, '_if only you remembered why…_'

"So, What do you want to do first?"

"I want to kill all those worthless humans, of course."

"Looks like you didn't change your mind."

"Won't you try to stop me?"

Yoh smiled sadly. The memories that flashed before his eyes brought up unwanted pain, and even if Hao had lost his reishi, he could tell that Yoh was hurting a lot. The sad smile on Yoh's face told Hao so much of his brother's relationship with humans. Yoh and Hao never got on that well with humans, only, Yoh decided not to hate them.

"You know, I don't like humans that much either."

The words were spoken with such emotion, sadness, remorse, but they couldn't have made Hao happier. '_Maybe Yoh remembered. If not… Maybe… maybe he will remember… the reason… the "why"… Maybe he'll remember and then the two of us really_ can_ become one._'

"That's why Anna and I could identify with you. And we wanted you."

"… I think it's pretty obvious."

Hao looked up, with hope in his eyes. Did Yoh really…? Could he possibly…?

"Grandpa told me once, that humans are like cancer cells. Those cells satisfy their appetite by eating the surrounding cells and increase quickly. They keep eating healthy cells and increasing more and more. So eventually they ruin their environment and destroy themselves."

Hao took the moment to digest Yoh's words. Yes, it was a good analogy. Even if the whole of the Asakura family wanted to stop Hao, they knew that Hao was right; that humans were destroying nature. They just didn't agree as to how to stop he humans.

"Nowadays it's too late to change their behavior. But humans will ruin the plant unless someone fixes the situation…"

"And that 'someone' is the shaman king…"

"I always fought thinking of that. But you've beaten me to it."

"you can't bring yourself to hate humans. And this proves it." All the hope drained from Hao's eyes. '_Yoh didn't remember after all… and he probably won't either. Why did I hope for that? It was foolish of me._'

Hao's expression hardened as he realized that Yoh wouldn't understand. He wouldn't remember the promise - the reason why he had done all of this, so he would shut out the world once more. At the very least, even if Yoh didn't remember, he could still fulfill the promise.

"That kind of hesitation is the difference between victory and defeat in a fight."

"I suppose so."

"but you shouldn't hesitate now. Don't forget that I've sheltered all of your loved ones here."

Yoh frowned.

"Things will get ugly out there soon. But you all can live in this paradise forever, with no worries or obligation. Then why are you obsessed with living on Earth?"

"Because… there's no future in this place."

"That's naïve."

"Sorry."

Hao wondered when Yoh had grown up. He was sure that Yoh had always been that naïve little kid who just slept through his days. When had Yoh become so wise? He looked at his brother who had changed so much. He wanted to cry, he, Asakura Hao, the Great Onmiyoji, the Shaman King… wanted to shed tears. So Yoh wanted to leave this place - he wanted to leave him.

"I'm afraid we can't be together if that's what you think," as Hao said those words, he felt a great pain in his chest. This was wrong, he wanted Yoh to stay, not to go back out there. Why was he pushing him away then? Because Yoh had said he wanted to live his life _out there_, not in here with Hao.

"it would be better if you never came back." '_Good bye Otouto._'

"Disappear."

"Nope."

Hao was shocked when Yoh didn't disappear as he had wanted him to. This was _his_ world, and whatever he wanted he got. So why didn't Yoh leave when he commanded him to? There was something wrong here.

"What…? Why are you still here…? This is the Shaman King's society… I can control this world at will."

"I'm not leaving. Not until I help you."

"This is _my_ society I-"

"You're hesitating Hao. Didn't you tell me not to hesitate?" Yoh looked at his brother, meeting his eyes. Hao gasped. What Could Yoh possibly mean? Asakura Hao _never_ hesitated.

"you don't really want me to leave."

"I do-"

"Then why am I still here? Didn't you say that you control this world at will? Maybe you don't _really_ want me to leave."

"Lies! Shut up and go away!" Hao screamed. He was losing his temper. It was so unlike him… but this whole situation shouldn't' happen. Yoh was only here because he willed it… and now he wanted Yoh to leave, but he wouldn't. Why? Could Yoh be right?

Of course Yoh was right. Hao didn't want Yoh to leave… he wanted him to stay.

"Tell me Hao, do you _really_ and _truly_ want me to leave?"

Hao's reply was barely above a whisper, "no."

Yoh smiled at his brother and took the reply as a sign that he could move closer to his brother. Perhaps there was hope that Yoh could reach Hao's heart and change his mind before it was too late.

"Hao," Yoh said after a moment. He reached out and pulled Hao into a hug. Hao didn't' push him away so he took that as a good sign. Maybe things will all work out after all.

"Why do you want to kill all humans?"

Hao knew that Yoh wanted the real answer. Not the half-lies he told, like: "because they are destroying the world" or "because they killed my mother." Those were half-truths - parts of the true story - and Yoh would be able to see right through them.

"It's because of a promise…"

Yoh wasn't sure if Hao was telling the truth now. But it was definitely not those half-truths that he told everyone else, so he stayed quiet and listened.

"It was a thousand years ago. I don't think you'll remember it though."

Yoh was shocked…

"I was alive back then?"

"Yes and no…" Hao said before continuing. "I made a promise to Mother to always protect her."

Yoh frowned. Was Hao just going to give the excuse about his mother again…?

"When Mother died, I fell into a depression… I began to question life, and I was suicidal. I met Ohachiyo, and things got better, but he told me that sometimes, it was like he was talking to two different people when he talked to me."

"What do you mean?"

"I think the modern world calls it multiple personality disorder. Sometimes, I would be vengeful, thinking about killing the humans around me and avenging Mother. Other times, Ohachiyo seemed to convince me that I shouldn't seek revenge, and instead of being so full of anger and sorrow, I would be happy. I would forget all the sad things in my life and I would be happy."

Slowly, Yoh began to understand what was going on. So that was what Hao had meant… "_Yes and no._"

"When I wasn't so sad, Ohachiyo said that I would lazy around and do as I pleased. Very easy going. I think, that's when your soul came into existence, when I pushed away the remorse and sorrow. I wanted to be happy, but I couldn't, so I developed two souls."

"You and… me…"

"Yes."

"But then, even Ohachiyo left me."

Familiar feelings washed over Yoh. He felt the sadness in Hao's voice and he understood exactly what Hao was saying, after all, Hao was describing how Yoh's soul came to be. This was how Yoh was born.

"Things got worse… it was horrible. Matamune saved me. He stopped me from killing myself, but then he died too. I couldn't help but feel lonely. I gave Matamune some of my power, so that he could stay with me a bit longer… in the end, he still left me though."

"And what about…"

"You started to appear more and more often. I never told Matamune about the personality switches, but I think he figured it out. It was strange though, because at that time, we both were… in one body, but our souls…"

"Had already separated."

The feelings became memories, and Yoh remembered how his soul would take over the body, and leave Hao buried away in their mind. But wasn't Hao stronger? Yoh wondered, if they merged now, whose soul would dominate the other? Who would have the stronger personality?

"I was weaker then. The depression made me weak… at one point, it all turned into anger, but when I died, I didn't become a demon."

"You reincarnated yourself."

"Yes, five hundred years ago, I decided that I would kill all humans. But when I was born, I realized something… that I was no longer able to feel happiness… I couldn't feel anything except anger and despair."

"Why?" Yoh asked. He already knew the answer, because Yoh was slowly remembering all these events.

"Because that was the first time that we were born as twins."

Having the truth of it be confirmed shocked Yoh. He stared at his brother in sympathy. He was… partly at fault for Hao being this way - so full of animosity. The trigger had been the death of Hao's mother, the cause was the humans, but Yoh was the reason why.

"Did you know that when souls separate, they literally become two halves? I guess you took all the happiness, sympathy, joy… everything that I can't feel anymore."

"Is _that_ why I can't get angry?"

"Yes. It's also why you're so lazy. You took my ability to be lazy."

"But then… I remember a lot of this… I remember everything from a thousand years ago. Why can't I remember anything from five hundred years ago?"

Hao smiled sadly at his brother. '_He is able to remember after all. He can understand the pain and everything that I felt._'

"You know, you can only feel anger if I was angry at something before our souls split."

"You're not answering my question."

Yoh was right. Hao was avoiding the topic completely. Had something happened five hundred years ago? What was it and why wouldn't Hao tell him?

"The same for me, I can't be happy unless - "

"Hao, answer me. Why can't I remember anything from five hundred years ago?"

Silence. Hao didn't think he could ever say it. It was a horrible memory that made him want to kill the humans. At first, it was just the few who had slaughtered his mother, but after what happened five hundred years ago, all humans had to die.

"Because… they took you away."

Yoh's eyes widened. A memory coming back to him. It was the only memory he had from that time period, and it wasn't pretty.

_"Twins! They are twins!"_

_"A taboo! Kill one!" _

_"Which one?" _

_"The weaker of the two."_

_"Of course. First born is stronger, kill the second born."_

_Yoh felt a hand grasp him tightly, not wanting to let go, and he tightened his hold too._

_'Hao, don't leave me.'_

_'I-I… I can't do anything! Yoh!'_

_The telepathic conversation between the twins was cut short. Yoh was picked up and brought away. What happened to Hao now was unknown, but Yoh knew what was about to happen to him. He was brought to a dark room that was small and cramped. They shut him in there. _

_'Hao!' Yoh screamed mentally. He heard a faint whisper of a reply._

_'I'm sorry Yoh. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'_

_'It's not your fault Hao.'_

_'I promise I'll get you out. I'll save you. I promise.'_

_'Thank you.'_

And then Yoh was brought back to the present. He couldn't remember anything after that, which meant one thing.

"You were never able to save me, were you?"

"No. They literally killed my happiness that day."

"Joy kill."

The two laughed dryly. It was not something funny at all. Yoh finally understood why he was so different from everyone else. Not just humans, but even Shamans. It wasn't something Freudian like Ren, it wasn't because of some great catastrophe or Karma lie Horo and Chocolove. It was because he was half of what they were, in soul anyway.

"Those were the only two times that I had ever failed at something. I couldn't protect mother, or you. And it was always because of the humans."

Yoh reached out and stroked his brother's cheek in sympathy. For a thousand years, it wasn't because Hao was full of anger, but because Yoh had taken his peace from him.

"I'm sorry."

Yoh pulled Hao into his arms. It had always been his fault. Hao wasn't evil, he was just… unable to feel. He was apathetic and it wasn't his fault. It was Yoh's fault.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry."

"I should be sorry, I wasn't able to save you."

Hao started crying then. A thousand years worth of tears fell from his eyes, finally free. Had it really been so long since Hao could feel that someone cared? He couldn't read minds anymore, but he had never once felt that anyone cared about him when he still had his reishi. And now that he had lost the reishi, he felt Yoh genuinely cared for him. Till this moment, no one had cared, till Yoh held him.

"Hao, what do you feel now?" Yoh asked. After the story and the explanation, Yoh wanted to know what his brother was feeling now. Was he still so vengeful? Was he finally happy? What was he?

"I-… I don't feel anything anymore."

Yoh glanced down at Hao who was still crying. The tears flowed, but it was like Hao wasn't actually crying, like the tears had just burst from a dam.

"You don't hate the humans anymore." It was a statement. Yoh knew it, he was just seeking confirmation.

"No. I simply don't feel."

If Hao didn't feel anything anymore, then that only meant one thing. And then Yoh said something that shocked Hao. It gave him mixed feelings as to whether or not he wanted it, but he wouldn't be able to deny that he _did _want it.

"Hao, take my soul back. Let's be _one_ again."

He knew what he was saying. They both did. Yoh wanted to give up his soul, so that Hao would be able to feel joy again. But then, what would become of Yoh?

"No, you'll disappear. It will be like I'm taking you away from me."

"No it won't," Yoh said, shaking his head. "I'll be right there with you, all the time. If you get lonely, I'll be there."

"Don't you understand? You'll disappear! My soul… it will absorb yours, just like it did to Ohachiyo's!"

Yoh shook his head again, and began to wipe Hao's tears away. "We are one person Hao. We're equal. Your soul can't dominate mine, and I can't dominate yours. We'll be together again."

The words slowly sunk into Hao's mind. He didn't want this… he needed it, but he would deny it so that his brother would be able to continue to exist.

While Hao was lost in thought, Yoh pulled his brother closer to him, hugging him tight.

'_Great Spirit, I know you are Hao's. But can you grant me one wish? Let me be with Hao again. So that he will never be lonely. So that he can save humanity and so that he can be happy again. I took that from him, and now, I want to return what belongs to him. Please, help my brother. Let me be with him again.'_

Yoh started to fade. By the time Hao noticed, it was too late.

"I love you Nii-chan. I'm happy for you."

"Yoh!"

Yoh had disappeared, he was gone.

'_He listened after all. I told him to disappear, and he did. Only… he only does the things I want when I no longer want them.' _But Yoh had stayed true to his words. "_I'm not leaving. Not until I help you._"

Yoh Asakura no longer existed in this world.

The tears fell from Hao's eyes once again. It was the third time he had been left alone. First it was Ohachiyo, and then Matamune. Now it was Yoh. Why was everyone always getting close to him and then leaving? Why did they melt the ice around his heart, only to let him build it back up, stronger and colder than ever?

'_But I'm not gone, Hao._'

'_That voice - !_'

'_I told you, didn't I? Your soul can't dominate mine, and I can't dominate yours._'

'_But you -_'

'_It's going to be weird for me, you know, being called "Hao" from now on. But if I was once called that, I think I can adjust okay._'

'_You… it's… you really didn't leave me._'

'_Of course not! I told you that I wanted to be one again! You won't be alone anymore._'

Yoh's words reached Hao and the tears that fell now fell for a different reason. He wasn't crying because he was sad or lonely… he was crying because he was happy.

After a thousand years, Hao finally felt happiness. He was _happy_.

_'We won't be lonely anymore._'

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**A/N: I'm sorry. The ending was weak and abrupt, but I felt like I was repeating myself over and over at one point. I'm just not that good at expressing certain things, I'm sorry. **

**But I hope you guys like that anyway. I know it's not romance or anything. But I told you that this was purely brotherly love. **

**If you ever get a notice that I update this one-shot, then it's probably me just fixing grammatical errors, spelling mistakes or re-writing small things to make this story better. Otherwise, it's all the same.  
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**Now, please review? I'd like to know what you guys think! **


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